In putting together this special report on how writing instruction can and should build on the science of reading, Education Week reporters read through dozens of studies and spoke to leading researchers in the field.
From this reporting, we landed on four main research takeaways, each of which are worth reiterating here and consulting as school districts assess the strength of their own writing programs.
1. Reading and writing are intimately connected.
Research on the connections between the two disciplines began in the early 1980s and has grown more robust with time. Although there are elements specific to each, like handwriting, that need to be practiced on their own, reading and writing instruction appear to be effective when combined.
Among the newest and most important additions are three research syntheses conducted by Steve Graham, a professor at the University of Arizona, and his research partners. One of them examined a second examined the inverse question. Both found significant positive effects for reading and writing.
A third meta-analysis gets one step closer to classroom instruction. Graham and partners examined 47 studies of instructional programs that 鈥攏o program could feature more than 60 percent of one or the other. The results showed generally positive effects on both reading and writing measures.
2. Writing matters even at the earliest grades, when students are learning to read.
Studies show that the carries meaningful signals about their decoding, spelling, and reading comprehension later on.
Reading experts say that students should be supported in writing almost as soon as they begin reading, and evidence suggests that both spelling and handwriting are linked to the ability to connect speech to print鈥攁 process known as encoding鈥攁nd to oral language development.
3. Like reading, writing must be taught explicitly.
Writing is a complex task that demands much of students鈥� cognitive resources. Researchers generally agree that writing must be explicitly taught鈥攔ather than left up to students to 鈥渇igure out鈥� the rules on their own. That way, they can spend more time focusing on what they want to say, rather than trying to determine how to say it effectively.
There isn鈥檛 as much research about how precisely to do this. One 2019 review, in fact, found significant overlap among , and concluded that all showed signs of boosting learning. Debates abound about the amount of structure students need and in what sequence, such as whether they need to master before moving onto paragraphs and lengthier texts.
But in general, students should be guided on how to construct sentences and paragraphs, and they should have access to models and exemplars, the research suggests. They also need to understand the iterative nature of writing, including how to draft and revise.
A number of frameworks incorporating various degrees of are available, though most of them have not been studied empirically.
4. Writing can help students learn content鈥攁nd make sense of it.
Much of reading comprehension depends on helping students absorb 鈥渨orld knowledge鈥濃�攖hink arts, ancient cultures, literature, and science鈥攕o that they can make sense of increasingly sophisticated texts and ideas as their reading improves. Writing can enhance students鈥� absorption of this background knowledge, and should be emphasized rather than taking a back seat to the more commonly taught exercises, such as stories and personal reflections.
Graham and colleagues conducted looking at this idea of 鈥渨riting to learn鈥� in mathematics, science, and social studies. The studies included a mix of higher-order assignments, like analyses and argumentative writing, and lower-level ones, like summarizing and explaining.
